Nine people living in the same apartment block in the city of Alar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, were hospitalized on Friday morning after being poisoned by a mysterious gas.

The local hospital source said the nine people experienced dizziness and vomiting before being taken to hospital between 5:00 and 8:00 AM, but are now recovering well.

According to the local government, a woman living in the building in the Luzhou residential area felt ill early in the morning and came to the hospital with her son.

After hearing her report, the local police rushed to the building and rescued seven others from five separate apartments, including a couple over 60, who had already slipped into coma.

The residential area experienced a power cut at 2:00 PM on Thursday. But a company on the ground floor of the building continued to generate electricity with its own diesel generator.

The local government suspects the generator caused the release of poisonous gas but has not yet confirmed these suspicions. The local hospital did not elaborate on what types of poisonous substances were found in the patients' lungs.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)